Ton's brilliant magic formula won the original roman tournament
by only three strokes.
It is also worth noting from the
fonality golf post mortem
that TedYoung (presumably a first time golfer) produced a score of 116.50 before
finding Ton's magic formula ... and that a score of 169.51 was enough to win a prize.
Also, Jasper, who is part of the Perl golf community, "forgot" about
Ton's magic formula, yet was still able to finish in ninth place with a score of 125.

So not knowing this formula did not "shut out" people from winning a prize.
Moreover, searching for perl golf (via google and/or SuperSearch) would have
uncovered the original perl golf roman numerals game easily enough (as Ted
Young did).

Perhaps the rules should have been clarified to state, as Ton says, that golfers
are expected to research and learn from prior art and that it is not cheating
to do so.

In summary, I do not blame Fonality for this and, despite the prior roman art,
the wide range of scores and creative approaches showed that there was
a lot of golf played in this competition outside the magic formula.

I'm amused at the downvotes for my saying that I have no interest in a contest based on research. "Darn you, Lester! Expressing an opinion about the type of contest you want to participate in! I'll show you!"

You're probably being downvoted for your attitude.
It was meant to be a fun competition.
Most people were in it for the enjoyment, not the prizes,
and could see the funny side of it after the game was over.
You couldn't, preferring to feel angry and cheated
and venting that the whole thing was unfair.
You are the only competitor I'm aware of who has
expressed this point of view.
To illustrate the stark difference in attitude, I embed
below a number of
public comments
from others who were in
the competition and who also missed Ton's magic formula.

From Jasper (top score of those who missed Ton's magic formula):

Now, as an afterthought, am I the only person to have missed the
perlgolf history book, and the only person who submitted a score that
didn't have something like : $;.=5x$_*8%29628 :)
I had a good time doing it, though. Thanks, Samy...

From `/anick, who missed out on the last prize by one stroke:

Yeah. Whoever wrote that "the one who doesn't learn from history is
condemned to repeat it" was wildly optimistic. *sigh*

But nevermind that blunderific overlook of the Great Thome of Golfic
Knowledge. Nevermind an obscenely tumefied forehead, caused by repeated
percussions against my desk during the ever-excruciating quest for the
next shaved stroke. What really make me wail like a tax-audited banshee
is that the referee just went through the last of the pending entries,
allowing m.wrenn to sneak one stroke ahead of me and bump me off the
top 20, literally yanking the prized t-shirt off my clenched fists.

m.wrenn, if you are on this list, consider my fist -- yes, that same
fist that you so fiendishly robbed from its prize -- shaked in barely
supressed fury in your general direction. And mark my words: one day, I
shall have my revenge upon thee!

Oh, and many thanks to the referee and Fonality for the course. It
was a blast!